ENHANCEMENT OF THE FAA’s ON-LINE WILDLIFE AIRCRAFT STRIKE DATABASE WITH AN INTERACTIVE GRAPHICS CAPABILITY

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Prescott, AZ, USA) was awarded a grant from the William J. Hughes FAA Technical Center in October 1999 to develop and maintain a web site dealing with a wide variety of airport safety wildlife concerns. Initially, the web site enabled users to access related topics such as wildlife management (at/near airports), bird identification information, FAA wildlife management guidelines, education, pictures, current news, upcoming meetings and training, available jobs and discussion/forum sections. In April 2001, the web site was augmented with an on-line wildlife strike report (FAA Form 5200-7). Upon submittal on-line, “quick look” email notifications are sent to concerned government personnel. The distribution of these emails varies as to whether there was damage, human injuries/fatalities, and whether feather remains were collected and will be sent to the Smithsonian Institution for identification. In July 2002, a real-time on-line query system was incorporated to allow federal and local government agencies, airport and operator personnel, and USDA and airport wildlife biologists to access this database (which as of June 2005 contains 68,288 researched strike reports added to at a rate of approximately 500 strike reports/month) to formulate strategies to reduce the hazards wildlife present to aviation. To date (June 2005), over 15,000 on-line real-time queries were processed. In June 2004, ERAU was authorized to develop a graphical interface to this on-line query system. Current capabilities include mapping strikes (by species) on the US map, each of the contiguous 48 state maps (with AK and HI being added), and airport diagrams of the major metropolitan airports as well as the next 46 airports with the most reported strikes The latter capability depicts strikes by runway in plan as well as in elevation view. Currently under development is the ability to view time-sequenced strikes on the US map. This extensive graphical interface will give analysts the ability to view strike patterns with a wide variety of variables including species, seasons, migration patterns, etc. on US and state maps and airport diagrams.

Academic Library Websites in Bangalore City, India: An Evaluative Study

This study evaluates the content and quality of academic library websites. An evaluation checklist is used as a tool for evaluation of academic library websites. The checklist is divided into five main parts followed by Rating Table. The quantitative pointing system (ten point scale) and five point rating scales are used to evaluate and rank the websites. The study reveals that very few (16 percent) websites provide information about the date of last updating. Similarly very few (20 percent) websites provide links to other web reference sites and a moderate number (40 percent) have feedback forms for comments. On the other side, a good number of websites (76 percent) are efficient in loading images, icons, and graphics, and a large number (80 percent) have incorporated a web OPAC. The study is limited to the evaluation of websites of five academic libraries located in Bangalore, India.

Assessing Needs for Computer Pest Management Software in Nebraska Agriculture

A mail survey was conducted to assess current computer hardware use and perceived needs of potential users for software related to crop pest management in Nebraska. Surveys were sent to University of Nebraska-Lincoln agricultural extension agents, agribusiness personnel (including independent crop consultants), and crop producers identified by extension agents as computer users. There were no differences between the groups in several aspects of computer hardware use (percentage computer use, percentage IBM-compatible computer, amount of RAM memory, percentage with hard drive, hard drive size, or monitor graphics capability). Responses were similar among the three groups in several areas that are important to crop pest management (pest identification, pest biology, treatment decision making, control options, and pesticide selection), and a majority of each group expressed the need for additional sources of such information about insects, diseases, and weeds. However, agents mentioned vertebrate pest management information as a need more often than the other two groups. Also, majorities of each group expressed an interest in using computer software, if available, to obtain information in these areas. Appropriate software to address these needs should find an audience among all three groups.